Nero di Troia Il Nerone 2018 – Cantina La Marchesa

Cantina La Marchesa was established 10 years ago by Marika and Sergio, whose passion for the land and winemaking led them to make their dream come true. Based in the town of Lucera, in the northern part of Puglia, their 14hectares of vineyards are just 300 mt from the cellar making harvesting as efficient as possible, in terms of time-cutting procedures and keeping the grape’s aromas intact, ensuring the quality of the final product. By fully respecting traditions and working just with Puglia native varieties such as Nero di Troia and Bombino Bianco, all processes are strictly carried out by hand by experienced high skilled workers. In Spring time, excessive leaves are removed in order to allow the warm Puglian sun to ripen the grapes, which later are pruned to let only the best clusters become wine. They strongly believe that a good wine can only be made if there’s passion and hard work in the vineyards. From growing the grapes to wine making, bottling and selling the final product, Cantina La Marchesa takes care of the whole production process.

Nero di Troia

This grape is a very ancient variety, native to the southern Italian region of Puglia, historically used in blends, it has been showing its full potential in recent years. Legend has it, this variety may have arrived in Puglia from the ancient Greek town of Troy, and thanks to Diomedes, King of Argo who fought in the Trojan war. Also called Uva di Troia, Nero di Troia is the third most important of Puglia’s native black grape vines after Negroamaro and Primitivo. If Negroamaro, grown in the provinces of Brindisi and Lecce, is the most important for all the denominations of origin in the Salento and Primitivo identifies the labels produced in the province of Taranto, Nero di Troia has its ideal terroir in the province of Foggia and in the northern part of the province of Bari. This trio of black grape varieties express all the rich diversity of Puglia’s wine-growing sector. Nero di Troia has given also an important contribution to the development of the Castel del Monte area. In addition, the rediscovery of Nero di Troia and its territory  has also drawn attention to other lesser known native varieties like Bombino Bianco and Bombino Nero, both long underrated although they produce delightful wines.